Lowcountry Blues Bash, South Carolina

The 18th annual Lowcountry Blues Bash, to be held from 8 to 17 February 2008 in Charleston, South Carolina, offers ten days of traditional and contemporary blues to entertain musicians and music lovers. The program includes 44 groups and solo performers putting on more than 75 shows to delight audiences at 18 superb venues throughout Charleston.

Audiences can look forward to classic urban blues from Eddie Shaw & the Wolf Gang. Together with outstanding guitarist Magic Sam, Eddie Shaw helped invent what is now referred to as The West Side Sound early in his career. His considerable talent led to him working with legendary Howlin’ Wolf and producing the renowned album “Back Door Wolf”. When Howlin’ Wolf died in 1975, Eddie Shaw was the stabilizing influence that kept the Wolf Gang together, and a new era of Chicago blues was born. Other members of the group are guitarist Eddie “Vaan” Shaw Jr. and bassist/vocalist Lafayette “Shorty” Gilbert.

The Creole Zydeco Farmers will be entertaining the crowds with the traditional dance music of the French-speaking Creoles living in south Louisiana and east Texas known as Zydeco. This unique genre of music is characterized by the sounds of the metal rub-board, known as a froittoir, together with accordion, electric guitar, bass guitar and drums – guaranteed to get audiences up and dancing.

The Lowcountry Blue Bash also features Clifford Curry, a popular singer with a long history in R&B, gospel, blues, shag and beach music. Clifford was still in high school when, together with his group The Five Pennies, his first album was released in the 1950s. In 1967 he had his biggest hit with the still-popular song, She Shot a Hole in My Soul. This talented artist has won numerous CAMMY Awards and is still a force to be reckoned with on the beach music record charts.

Other talented artists from far and wide that feature on the Lowcountry Blues Bash program include, Daddy Mack, Alberta Adams, Hitman, Christopher Dean Band, The Delta Swagger, Harper, Tinsley Ellis and Rickey Godfrey Blues Band. Local Charleston musicians include Stone Cold Sarah Cole, Cotton Blue Band, Juke Joint Johnny with Drew Baldwin, Ed Porkchop Meyer, Teddy Midnite, Shrimp City Slim, and Smoky Weiner and the Hot Links.

The performance venues for the Lowcountry Blues Bash include The Mill, Dough-Re-Mi Pizza Parlour, Sticky Fingers, Blind Tiger Pub, Mills House Hotel, Aromas, The Poor House, Lowcountry Senior Center and Folly Beach Crab Shack.

Previous events have been enormously successful, with a good time being had by musicians and audiences alike. The organizers are confident the 18th Lowcountry Blues Bash will be better than ever.